As the UK adopts the new ‘Levelling Up’ initiative promoted by the government we are already seeing the potential for Manchester and the wider North West & North East regions.
Levelling up is not about making every part of the UK the same, or pitting one part of the country against another. The principal is that it can improve one region by improving productivity in another, encouraging regions to do business with each other and indeed other countries to do business with UK regions. London will no longer be the centre of the UK business universe as regional business centres and areas of excellence develop across the UK.
The UK Government will target £100m of investment into three new Innovation Accelerators, private-public-academic partnerships which will aim to replicate the Stanford-Silicon Valley and MIT-Greater Boston models of clustering research excellence. These pilots will be centred on Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Glasgow City-Region.
Government will be relocating more senior civil service roles out of London to locations across the UK including Manchester and Leeds, ensuring key decision-makers are re-deployed to be closer to those that they actually serve.
At Speed Couriers we are looking forward to the ‘Levelling Up’ initiative for two reasons. Firstly the potential influx of public and private companies or bodies bringing in science and digital technology skills and expertise; developing culture and arts in Manchester and the region; all of which is an exciting prospect. Secondly however is the governments intent on tackling crime, drug abuse and anti-social behaviour which blight so many communities, an initiative that will make a real difference. An investment of £50m from the ‘Safer Streets Fund’ every year will give Police and local authorities in England and Wales the resources they need to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. The aim is to reduce by 2030, homicide, serious violence and neighbourhood crime, with an initial focus on worst-affected areas.
We will continue to report on how ‘Levelling Up’ is affecting both Speed Couriers and its clients in the coming months.
